Craig Lowndes extends championship lead with race three
0:50

Craig Lowndes has cruised home to take out the third race at the Tasmania 400, extending his lead in the championship to 70 points.

Fox Sports

30 Mar 2014

Sport/Motor Sport/V8

Lowndes took V8 career win No.96 in Tasmania.Source: Getty Images

IT took 84 flat-out laps, but Craig Lowndes has finally escaped the bad luck that has dogged him for two years in Tasmania.

The 40-year-old V8 Supercars veteran took off at the start of the final race of the Tyrepower Tasmania 400 and pinned the ears back, turning in a scintillating drive to take the 96th win of his storied career.

Lowndes headed home teammate Jamie Whincup and James Courtney, extending his championship lead over his Red Bull teammate to 70 points.

It’s a vast improvement over his fortunes at the ‘apple isle’ last year, where Lowndes arrived on top of the leaderboard but left trailing in the title.

Craig Lowndes wins race three in Tassie
1:38

Craig Lowndes has taken out race three of the Tasmanian 400 at Symmons Plains.

Fox Sports

30 Mar 2014

Sport/Motor Sport/V8

After a horror day - shoved off the road by Whincup, then sent to the back of the field for a minor technical infringement - Lowndes was on point from the moment the red lights went out.

He outjumped polesitter Whincup away from the line and proceeded to check out from the rest of the field.

Whincup was one of several cars to make the first of two compulsory pitstops at the end of the first lap, but emerged stuck in traffic while Lowndes blazed away in clear space at the front of the field, setting fastest lap after fastest lap.

Behind him was a fierce battle between Volvo’s Scott McLaughlin, James Courtney, Will Davison, and Shane van Gisbergen, with Whincup slotting into the group once the remaining leaders pitted for the first time.

Whincup and McLaughlin resumed their duel from Adelaide and then Albert Park, the Volvo trying but not quite able to edge past the Red Bull Commodore.

The second and final round of stops illustrated just how big an advantage Lowndes had. He stopped slightly earlier than planned thanks to traffic, but emerged with a comfortable nine second lead.

Whincup pressed hard but was barely able to dent his teammate’s margin, while McLaughlin lost his shot at another podium finish when he clattered into the side of Courtney as the HRT man exited pit lane.

Will Davison equalled Erebus Motorsport’s best finish in V8 Supercars in fourth place with a right front tyre that was, to quote the driver, “absolutely spent” when the Mercedes crossed the line.

He only just held out a fast finishing Fabian Coulthard, with McLaughlin sixth from Van Gisbergen, Tim Slade, and FPR duo Mark Winterbottom and David Reynolds.

It was a horror day for Garth Tander, a power steering issue in qualifying relegating him to the back of the field, before a long pit visit to cure brake problems left him to finish last.

Nissan Motorsport’s fleet of Altimas will all be relieved to be making the return journey over Bass Strait, Caruso leading them across the line in positions 19 through 22, all one lap off Lowndes’s pace.

The V8 Supercars paddock doesn’t have much time to recuperate; the next round is at Winton in Victoria next weekend.

The reigning champion completed a hattrick of pole positions for the weekend in Sunday’s qualifying session for Race Six of the championship, edging out teammate Craig Lowndes for another front-row lockout for the team.

In doing so Whincup broke Lowndes two-year old unofficial lap record, becoming the first man to lap the 2.41km Symmons Plains layout in under 51 seconds.

The second row for this afternoon’s 84-lap race is all about the sport’s new marques, Scott McLaughlin’s Volvo edging out Will Davison who posted his best qualifying performance since switching to Erebus Motorsport.

Red Bulls clash as Jamie Whincup dominates in Tasmania
1:56

Jamie Whincup sweeps both Saturday V8 races in Tasmania, but all the focus is on his on-track clash with teammate Craig Lowndes.

Fox Sports

29 Mar 2014

Sport/Motor Sport/V8

Rounding out the top five is James Courtney, Holden Racing Team’s sole fighter for most of the session after Garth Tander’s car became the latest to fall victim to a power steering woes. He will start 24th.

After harrying Whincup for the win in Saturday’s second race Mark Winterbottom will line up from 13th, his session spoiled by a clash with teammate Jack Perkins as the latter exited the pits early in the session.

The damage to Perkins car will see him start 25th and last, while their teammates David Reynolds and Chaz Mostert will start 15th and 17th.

The quickest Nissan belonged to Michael Caruso in 12th, while last year’s race winners Fabian Coulthard and Jason Bright will start from 11th and 16th.

The 84-lap Race Six of the V8 Supercars championship gets underway at 3:55pm EDT.

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